Kristy Seidel

College Board endorsed consultant for AP English Language and Composition

This session is offered In-Person APSI Event 3:  June 23-26, 2025  Monday-Thursday

Kristy Seidel is a current teacher at Suncoast High School in Riviera Beach, FL, is the founder of teachingrhetoric.com, and is the co-author of the upcoming The Norton Guide to AP Language: Writing & Skills (W.W.Norton). She is currently a College Board consultant, and has served in various leadership roles at the AP Summer Reading, most recently serving as the Exam Leader for the AP English Language and Composition Exam. She also teaches in the International Baccalaureate program and serves as the examiner for the IB English Literature exam. She has taught for 21 years, with a variety of experience in rural, urban, and suburban student populations as well as diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. She currently holds a Master of Arts in Literature and adjuncts at Palm Beach State College. In her free time, Kristy enjoys judging competitive cheerleading, watching college football (Go Dawgs!) and traveling as much as possible.

2025 In-Person WaltonAPSI: AP English Language & Composition Session Description

This workshop is designed for teachers of AP English Language and Composition. We will focus on motivating students by demonstrating ways rhetoric can prepare them not only for the AP Language exam, but for success in all upper-level academic courses.

Beginning with rhetorical reading strategies and activities, we will explore contemporary units and lessons proven to effectively teach the three main skills required for success in the course:

      • argument,
      • rhetorical analysis, and
      • research (synthesis).

The APSI emphasizes engaging lessons involving cooking, music, television, Civil and Human Rights. Participants will receive several model writing exercises and assessments. Because AP English Language students need many opportunities to discuss complex texts in multiple genres, participants will gain hands-on experience with rhetorical-reading approaches to non-fiction, literary, and informational texts.
Participants learn Project Based Learning opportunities to succeed in argument, rhetorical analysis, and synthesis. We will conduct a simulated reading of recent Free-Response exam questions, and participants will receive full sets of sample student papers along with strategies for using those samples to inform teaching and learning. Using your computer (since we are online) you will have immediate access to multiple digital resources.

APSI Goals:
• To identify and apply the standards of the AP English Language and Composition exam to classroom practices
• To explore and develop effective AP Language units, lessons and syllabi
• Practice applying the scoring guidelines from recent AP Exam to samples of student work
• Identify student strengths and weakness using data available through AP Classroom and Instructional Planning Reports
• To expand participants’ repertoire of successful instructional strategies
• To explore print and electronic resources
• To develop a network of valuable colleagues
• To promote the cross-disciplinary benefits of AP Language curriculum

AP Summer Institute Agenda

16 hours of the workshop is conducted synchronously, and 14 hours are conducted asynchronously. See the Sample Daily Schedule on this website to see a sample time schedule
Day 1

Identify student strengths and weakness using data available through AP Classroom and Instructional Planning Reports
Curricular Evolution and College Readiness (including equity and access)

      • Cross-Curricular Value of AP Language: 
      • Curriculum that complements AP U.S. History, AP Government, AP Environmental Science, and a bilingual approach for aligning course to AP Spanish Language and Literature.
      • Syllabus Building
      • Multiple-Choice Strategies – Practical uses for AP Classroom.
      • Writing revision practices that go with the new AP
      • Writing Multiple-Choice.
      • Conferences on Zoom to help teacher’s with individual needs

Day 2

      • Rhetorical Analysis Reading Rhetorically: An examination of Civil and Human Rights texts Connecting Reading to Writing.
      • Useful reading graphic organizers.
      • Teaching Literary Texts Rhetorically
      • Plays, poetry, fiction with a rhetorical lens
      • AP Rhetorical Analysis
      • Essay Question Scoring
      • Rhetorical Analysis essay, with emphasis on scoring the sophistication points
      • Conferences on Zoom to help teacher’s with individual needs 

Day 3

      • Argument Toulmin vs. Rogerian vs. Classical
      • Practical application for arguments: Arguments using cooking and cuisine to explore race, gender, and social class.
      • Project Based Learning opportunities to teach argument
      • AP Argument Essay Question
      • Scoring Rhetorical Analysis essay
      • Time to create a lesson or share a syllabus

Day 4

      • Synthesis Using engaging approaches involving
        • pop culture,
        • film,
        • television and
        • music to teach Synthesis
      • AP Synthesis Essay
      • Question Sharing a lesson or a portion of your syllabus
      • Evaluations